Mandatory evacuations are in placed for various parts of Los Angeles County as the fire spreads towards the Santa Monica Mountains.

The full extent of the destruction is still unknown, but authorities believe up to 1,000 buildings have been destroyed - most of those in Paradise, a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) spokesman said.

Tens of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate, but there were no injuries to residents or firefighters, said Los Angeles County Deputy Fire Chief Dave Richardson.

Strong wind is blowing two brush fires out of control in Ventura County, and one of them has closed a section of Highway 101. Some structures have already been destroyed, Cal Fire reported. Winds were blowing between 25-30 miles per hour and pushed the fire across the freeway onto Conejo Mountain toward the Pacific Coast Highway.

He said: "The town is devastated, everything is destroyed". Los Angeles is prone to natural disasters as earthquakes are expected in the region, but with the drought this year and mighty fires, it's becoming even more unsafe to live in the area.

Residents took to social media to share their views of the flames almost consuming the hillside in Newbury Park, which borders Thousands Oaks to the west. "I pray everyone is safe", she wrote.

The so-called Woolsey Fire burning west of Los Angeles has surpassed 15 square miles (39 square kilometers) Friday morning and is continuing to grow.

A second evacuation center for animals was opened this morning at Hansen Dam, 11770 Foothill Blvd.in Lake View Terrace, after the evacuation center at Pierce College in Woodland Hills reached capacity.

Not too far away, firefighters were also battling the Hill Fire, which broke out along Hill Canyon in Santa Rosa Valley. Early Friday, the whipping winds prevented fire commanders from ordering aerial assaults in the early morning hours, but some flights began at 5:30 a.m.as the wind died down.

"My hometown of Paradise is on fire".

"The preliminary investigation revealed that the victims were located in vehicles that were overcome by the Camp Fire", the Butte County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Comments

Latest Posts

Cross Counter wins 2018 Melbourne Cup
When he started training five years ago he named The Derby and Melbourne Cup as the two races he most wanted to win. It was also 20 years after Faithful Son became the first runner for the Godolphin operation in Melbourne .

Harvick earns his shot at NASCAR Cup title with win at Texas
Kyle Busch , a seven-time victor this year, and defending Cup champion Martin Truex Jr . are among the other six title contenders. Harvick was on the inside again for the next restart, before Blaney was able to get by him on the outside and into the lead.

Virat Kohli slammed after asking fan to leave India
The message did not go down well with Kohli who answered - "I don't think you should live in India , go and live somewhere else". I loved to watch Sunil Gavaskar bat, but also loved watching (Gordon) Greenidge, (Desmond) Haynes and Viv Richards.

Here are the candidates who made history in the 2018 midterms
Texas is sending its first ever Hispanic women to congress, as Veronica Escobar snapped up Beto O'Rouke's old seat and state Sen. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be the youngest woman ever elected into Congress following her midterm election win Tuesday.

Mail bomb suspect to appear in NY court today
Kamala Harris, D-Calif., former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. At the end of the hearing he hugged his lawyer and a preliminary hearing in the case was set for Monday November 12.

Taliban, Afghan leaders meet for talks in Moscow
Regional players like Pakistan, China and Iran are among the participants of the meeting hosted by Russian Federation . Last year, the USA and the Taliban reportedly refused to attend the first meeting Moscow hosted.

Minnesota election results: U.S. House 5th District
New Mexico's Deb Haaland and Kansas attorney Sharice Davids were elected the first two Native American women to serve in Congress. Omar defeated Republican Jen Zielinski, who ran on a platform of education, cutting taxes and enforcing immigration laws.

Hold tight for a Brexit breakthrough, May tells Cabinet
For his part, Barnier said that bargaining on Brexit is "very negative" and the deal won't bring any benefits to either side. Following the cabinet meeting, Mrs May's spokesman said: "The prime minister said she was confident of reaching a deal.

CNN reporter loses White House access
Acosta pushed the woman's arm down as she tried to take the microphone away from him while he was haranguing the president. Mr Acosta asked Mr Trump why the caravan of migrants was emphasised as an issue in the just-concluded midterm races.